California to sue EPA over air standards

California to sue EPA over air standards

	Published : Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:52 By : Agencies Print this Story

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California will sue the Environmental Protection Agency if it does not act soon on the state's request for permission to regulate automobile emissions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday.

The state applied in 2005 for a waiver that would exempt California from the federal Clean Air Act, allowing it to more aggressively regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants.

Schwarzenegger said he called EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson on Wednesday and told him that his agency was moving too slowly.

'If we don't see quick action from the government, we will sue the U.S. EPA,' Schwarzenegger said during a luncheon speech in Beverly Hills.

The administration's letter announcing the intent to sue, a procedural step required six months before a lawsuit would be filed, was being sent Wednesday, Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said.

In the letter, Schwarzenegger demanded that the EPA act on California's waiver request within 180 days.

'Failure to take action by the end of October would mean that more than 22 months have passed with no decision,' Schwarzenegger wrote. 'This is clearly an unreasonable delay.'

California needs the waiver so it can implement a 2002 state law that would require automakers to reduce emissions by 25 percent from cars and light trucks and 18 percent from sport utility vehicles starting with the 2009 model year.

The EPA had delayed acting on the state's request because the agency maintained it did not have the authority to regulate the gases that contribute to global warming.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the EPA does have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, a position that had long been rejected by the Bush administration.

On Tuesday, EPA Administrators Stephen Johnson told senators that he had begun the formal process of acting on California's request, scheduling a hearing May 22 in Washington and a public comment period that ends June 15.

But Johnson refused to say when the agency would issue a decision on California's request. 'We will move expeditiously, but we are going to be moving responsibly,' he told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Responding Wednesday to Schwarzenegger's letter, EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood said a final decision would be made at the end of the comment period.

The auto regulations are a major part of California's strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The state is the world's 12th largest producer of the emissions blamed for warming the earth and contributing to global climate change.

A separate 2006 state law requires emissions to be reduced 25 percent by 2020. That law requires California to reduce emissions by an estimated 174 million metric tons.

The auto regulations would account for about 17 percent of the state's target, according to the California Air Resources Board.

At least 10 other states have adopted California's standard. Automakers have sued California and Vermont, saying the emission standards are akin to fuel economy standards, which can be set only by the federal government.